NEW DELHI: Kerala Tourism and Culture Minister P.C. Vishnunath was taken into custody by the Delhi Police on Tuesday evening while participating in the students’ protest in the national capital, adding a dramatic turn to the agitation that has drawn the entire Congress leadership to the streets.
Vishnunath, who had travelled to New Delhi to meet Union Ministers regarding projects related to Kerala, joined the protest after completing his official engagements.
As police moved in to disperse the demonstrators, he was detained along with several Congress leaders. Party leaders said Vishnunath repeatedly identified himself as a serving State Minister while police personnel escorted him to a Delhi Police bus.
However, the police proceeded with the detention, placing him inside the bus along with other protesters. Television footage from inside the police vehicle showed Vishnunath speaking to reporters through the bus windows.
Declaring that the agitation would continue, he said the Centre would eventually have to give in to the protesters.
“This government will have to retreat before this protest. It will fail because this is a struggle for the future of the country’s youth,” Vishnunath said, asserting that the movement would only grow stronger in the coming days.
Senior Congress leader and seven-time Lok Sabha MP Kodikunnil Suresh was also seen seated inside another police bus after being taken into custody. Congress MP Dean Kuriakose too was among those who faced police action during the protest.
The demonstration was attended by senior Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjuna Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, MPs from Kerala, and several other Opposition leaders, all expressing solidarity with the students’ agitation.
The detention of a sitting Kerala Cabinet Minister has added a new political dimension to the protest. While Congress leaders accused the Delhi Police of attempting to suppress a peaceful democratic demonstration, they vowed to continue the agitation, maintaining that it concerns the future of the country’s youth and would not be called off until their demands are addressed.--IANS
